Gardenia Song
by Ryuuza
Summary: Destiny makes promises like gardenias: sweet and short-lived. The story of Krayon and Raenef IV and their relationship that was but wouldn't be.


_Author's Notes_: Because I love Krayon x Raenef IV. And because I can. For **Nightengale13**.

_Warnings_: Sh-ai. Boy love.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Demon Diary. And it's a darned shame too.

* * *

**Gardenia Song**  
_sweet, fragrant, and short lived_

--

They never made each other any promises.

It wasn't faithfulness that kept them together, but curiosity.

But then, it wasn't disinterest that tore them apart, either.

It was destiny.

--

_"I don't believe in destiny. We make our own fate."_

--

Broken beyond repair, perfect, Raenef IV stared at his reflection, a too-thin figure of pale skin and dark hair and darker eyes.

That it should come to this, he thought to himself, almost laughing.

The greatest demon to ever have lived…

…reduced to a hollow, broken shell of vague smiles and faraway looks.

"Aureleid, my liege," he said and let himself drown in bittersweet memories.

Aureleid…shattered…by the love of Krayon of Egae.

Raenef turned away from his once-glorious lord.

--

_"If I leave, will you cry?"_

--

It wasn't that their love wasn't approved of. Demon lords honestly did not give a damn who was involved with whom, provided that it didn't incapacitate the demon realm in any way.

Raenef still didn't know if he ever fell in love with that fop of a demon lord, with his ridiculous hair and childlike selfishness. He could never picture himself in love with Krayon. Still couldn't, as a matter of fact.

But he found that it bothered him to be away.

Bothered him enough, in fact, that he made it a point to be as close as possible, whenever possible.

Krayon was overcome with glee; his stars would wink every time his face creased into a wide grin and his curls would swing through the air when he glomped Raenef, several times a day.

You'd never guess that Krayon was older by a good 300 years.

Their relationship…it worked.

They didn't question what worked.

Which only made it that much more painful when it all fell apart.

--

_"No one ever explains why things break. They just do."_

--

And all they could do was watch it crumble.

"You're dying," Krayon said, amber eyes faraway.

Raenef avoided his gaze. "Yes."

Krayon looked at him then, something fragile and precious in his gaze and Raenef could only hope that it didn't ever break.

He knew Krayon wanted to ask him things like, "Why didn't you tell me?" or "Is there any way—" or "Can I go with you?" And the answer to two of those questions was "no."

The other was, "Because you can't stop it."

Inevitability.

"Did Eclipse know?"

Krayon, ever territorial. "Not until you did."

"Good."

Krayon, ever concerned with the important things in life, like knowing where he stood in his lover's eyes.

A hand slipped over his, resting pale against his golden skin. The silence was pervasive, invasive, loud and pressing and suffocating.

Krayon looked down at his lap.

Number one.

He bit a corner of his lip to keep from smiling.

"So what kind of burial do you want, mate?" he asked, not moving his hand.

Raenef saw the tears Krayon never cried and heard the words he never said.

You're my number one, too.

I love you.

"Just don't cremate me."

I love you, too.

--

_"Would you lose your mind, would you cry my name—can I make you want…everything?"_

--

Krayon didn't remember the day Raenef died clearly. He did recall rain—smoke—Eclipse—light. Something that cut his arm and made him bleed.

Raenef would be back.

You couldn't kill a demon lord that easily.

--

_"Shatterbreak."_

--

Aureleid wasn't one to interfere, typically. Then again, there was nothing typical about the dilemma he found himself facing.

Self-denial should not be that powerful, he thought. It was dangerous—far more so than any demon's dark magic.

Krayon's hair was in pigtails again, and he laughed and chased merrily after a stubborn, irritated lady knight.

Do you love me, Erutis?

Go to hell!

And there was the briefest flicker, a quicksilver pause—"I've been there and back"—and he laughed again, calling after her to wait for him.

Aureleid hadn't believed it possible that Krayon didn't know Raenef IV was back.

He was right.

--

_"If I can live in my dreams and sleep in my fantasies, what else do I need?"_

--

He hadn't expected Krayon to welcome him back with open arms—he knew the demon lord better than that. He knew Krayon would have moved on and put all memories of their long-past relationship aside.

But Raenef hadn't expected Krayon to deny his outright existence.

It was true that he was no longer who he used to be. The title of "Demon Lord Raenef" belonged to someone else now, someone whom Eclipse served far better. But Raenef IV was very much alive.

Alive again. And alone.

"Just a moment," he said, with shuttered eyes. "Just one. Give me that, at the very least."

Krayon looked blankly at him, uncomprehending.

Raenef leaned forward and slid his arms around a familiar yet far too foreigh body. He hurt and this only doubled, tripled, the pain, but he held on.

A moment, a heartbeat, a breath later, and then he left.

--

_"Nothing in the seventeen realms could make me remember if I didn't want to."_

--

Aureleid was aware of the destructiveness innate in Krayon's deeply entrenched denial.

He became further aware of the strength of this power as Krayon screamed and screamed and—

—and Aureleid was overcome by an influx of power, and shattered.

—and Krayon didn't remember.

--

_"This is the strength of my love for you."_

--

He used to kiss me here, thought Raenef, continuing his perusal of his reflection. His fingers lingered on the skin of his neck.

And he liked to play with my hair.

Fetish, he thought with a pang.

Raenef dropped the mirror beside Aureleid's wide-eyed form.

He never said he'd wait for me.

I never said I was coming back.

Raenef stepped away from the shattered bits and pieces scattered on the ground, unreparable. His face turned toward the endless stretch of blue sky.

He never promised to remember me.

--

_"If I cry, will you come back?"_

--

Krayon frequently couldn't sleep at night. He'd watch Erutis set up her camp and retire to her tent. He'd make sure she was all right. And then he'd be enveloped by the uncertain darkness.

Something never felt right.

He liked to close his eyes because the darkness he found there was more familiar.

But sometimes he saw Raenef.

Pale skin and dark hair and darker eyes…

"They're green," he remembered observing once.

But they were always so dark that he'd never noticed.

There were times when Krayon remembered knowing Raenef. But then he'd open his eyes and wake up, blinking the dream from his eyes.

--

_"Make me a new destiny."_

--

One day, the newly-born Raenef IV, demon lord no longer, would come to terms that he may not have promised his heart to Krayon of Egae—but he had given it to him regardless.

And, one day, Krayon of Egae would remember.

But destiny couldn't make any promises.

We make our own, after all.

--

_"And I promise forever this time."_

-end-

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_More notes_: Please review! Lots of love –Ryu. 


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